Goin’ back to Cali

Wedding season is a little slow in August down in these parts, so we decided it was the perfect time for our first official Nichols family vacation.  California is where CJ and I met, fell in love, got married, and where Maggie was born. We headed to Austin when Maggie was 6 weeks old to be closer to my family.  And as much as I adore Austin, California will always be magical to us. We spent 10 fun-filled days in CA, visiting old friends and familiar places. It was awesome to be back and to share all those places that mean so much to us with the Magster. Off we go!

The loves of my life…

Wheeee!! It’s not 100 degreeeeeees!!!

I used a shot that CJ took of the sandy cliffs as a texture layer for this image.

Columbo’s Deli! This is where CJ used to work when we lived in Pacifica, CA in 2000. It’s an Italian family-run business with the best deli meats, cheeses, and amazing sandwiches. On weekdays, take a number and be prepared to wait 30-45 minutes for your sandwich. They’re that good.

Here’s Maggie  sportin’ my best thrift store find ever.  Next door to Columbo’s Deli is an old thrift store where I happened to spot this adorable hat.  I don’t think it’s actually a kids’ hat, but Maggie inherited her parents big head genes… (big brains, right?:)  And best of all? It was four bucks!! Not only that, but I noticed the Saks Fifth Avenue tag after we bought it. Sweet find!

We spent our first night with my dear friend Holly, who I met at Camp Tawonga. They have a beautiful home in the super-cool beach town of Montara, complete with chickens! Maggie was brave enough to go get the eggs out of their nests.

That’s my girl!

Maggie’s new buddy, Sampson.

The climate here is amazing. It’s cool and foggy 90% of the time, which was such an invigorating feeling, coming from months of intense Texas heat. But what was even better was hanging out with my girl, Holly! Isn’t she adorable?

Then off we go to San Francisco!! We got so very lucky with the weather.  Cool and sunny!  I love the  moody fog, but on sunny days, SF is the best city in the world!

First stop,  Yerba Buena Gardens. This place has so much to offer, right in the heart of downtown SF.  We went for the carousel and playground, but there’s also an amazing kids museum, a Center for the Arts, delicious cafes and coffee shops, and a year-round ice skating rink. It’s also a beautiful public park with sculpture pieces and fountains throughout.

And that small circular building is the SF Musuem of Modern Art, where I used to work as an assistant to the Director of Children’s Programs. I was lucky enougth to be able to explore the museum alone, before it would open in the morning. I had Picasso, Matisse, and Kandinsky all to myself! It was a great gig.

This is the view from Dolores Park, which was two blocks from where I used to live in the Mission District. Laying on the hillside on a day like this-you can’t beat it.

Guess who?

Haight and Ashbury!

We had breakfast on Haight Street at All You Knead. Huge portions of pancakes and bacon paired with mimosas= a great start to the day!

This place is so special to CJ and me.  This is the river that runs alongside Camp Tawonga, the kids summer camp where we met in 2000. I was an arts and crafts instructor, CJ a prepcook. Ahh, summer love. All of the staffers would head down here any chance we got to plunge into the icy cold river and then lay on the hot rocks under the tall pine trees. It was truly heaven.

It was amazing to be back at this place with our daughter, 8 years later. Thankfully, not much had changed.

The arts and crafts building where I used to teach kids how to do ceramics, paper-making, tie-dye, candle-making, etc. It was so much fun!

 We saw a camp counselor packing up for the summer, so we asked him to take this picture. When we told him how we met here in 2000, he said that he thought he remembered me. I said, “You were a camper, weren’t you?” He said, “Yep.” And I felt officially old:)

…but still a kid at heart.

I had forgotten the magnitude of these trees. They’re glorious.

Uncle Marquie! That’s what we call my BFF Marqus, who I’ve know for over 25 years. Marqus made his way to Camp Tawonga in 2001 and has been working for them for 7 years now!  We picked him up on the last day of camp to spend the week with us in Long Barn.

Leaving Camp T. This is where it all started for us, and being able to visit this magical place with Maggie makes it all the more special. My plan is for Maggie to work here when she’s older, so we can visit!

Long Barn, CA. Population 215. This was our mountain wonderland for 2 years, where we lived with minimal responsibilities (pre-parenthood:). Going for long quiet walks in the woods, taking our old boat out on the crystal lakes, joy-riding over the mountain pass, playing guitars on our porch, enjoying after-work gin and tonics, when days were a little longer….

This is our old homestead. It was an old market from the 1950′s.  Since we’ve left, it looks like someone scraped off most of the hand-painted window sign:( But you can still see remnants of “Groceries  Beer  Wine  Party  Ice.” When we lived here, we had so many people walk right into our home, expecting a store, that we eventually put a “CLOSED” sign in the window. The last time we stood on this porch was when Maggie was 6 weeks old, and we were packing up for a loooong drive to Austin.

I found this adorable little cabin to rent right down the road from our old market.

Marqus brought his jumping stilts, so CJ had to give ‘em a whirl. He did pretty good! Marqus is amazing on these things, but unfortunately, I didn’t get a photo. He’s quite a sight!

Pinecrest Lake was where we spent our first day up in the mountains. It’s a beautiful lake resort with a 1950′s California vibe and where we used to take our boat out when I was pregnant with Mags.

Yes, that’s natural. Can you believe these curls?!? Ridiculous!

Maggie loves her Uncle Marquie!

Are you kidding me? HOT!!

Good lord, I love this little face.

Night shot of our cabin.

Our hilarious friend, Di got to come hang out in the mounatins with us too! Yet another Camp T alumni.

Yosemite day!! Long Barn is only an hour away from Yosemite, where CJ and I were married in 2004!

CJ and I walked through a gorgeous meadow to this chapel the morning of our wedding day. Of course, we were singing “Goin’ to the chapel.”  It was a little surreal to be back here with our little Maggie Mae. Maybe I got just a little misty;)

Maggie was such a trooper! We hiked to the base of Bridal Veil Falls. The falls weren’t flowing too much since it was late in the season, but it was still gorgeous.

Back to SF to spend our last two days.

We had to take Maggie to see the sea lions. They’re so cute!!

Lazy bums.

One of the highlights of our trip was meeting my sweet friend Jessica’s little boy, Lev. Jessica was the head of the Arts and Crafts Dept. at Camp T in 2000 and we became instant friends. And believe it or not, she met her husband, Matt that very year and Camp Tawonga too!  Crazy! Their slogan should be, “If you’re lookin’ for love, come work for us!”

Love you Jessie!!

Smushie face!

Matt grew up in SF, so we definitely trusted his recommendations. Art’s Cafe was an awesome counter-cafe with delicious (and cheap) breakfast specials. Thanks Matt!

Golden Gate park is always so green and lush.

Lawn Bowling?!? How cool is that? So old school.

Check out these crazy cement slides that kids were barrelling down. Maggie went for it!

We were standing there watching Mags play and CJ said, “Should I jump over this fence?” To which I said, “Sure.” You know we always have to get a CJ jump shot:)

Jessica recommended the Bay Area Discovery Museum, located at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge. Mags had a blast!

Our friend Tucker, who we stayed with our last night. Here he is out on his fire escape. Check out the gorgeous Jewish temple he has a view of from his window. Pretty cool!

Heading down to visit Holly at Umame, where she bartends. Delicious sushi and specialty cocktails…yummy!

Can you believe this view we had of the bay along our walk?

Tucker suggested that we try this French bakery near his place for breakfast. It really was delicious, and I love the storefront.

After admiring the view, Maggie thought we should walk up the hill a bit, and lo and behold, there was this amazing playground overlooking the entire city! She played there for hours before our flight home. It was unbelievable.

Grabbing a bite to eat before heading to the airport. We’ll miss you CA, but we’ll be back!